Alexis Pauline Gumbs's "Primary: After and With Alma Thomas" Excerpted by Hyperallergic

An excerpt from Alexis Pauline Gumbs's book "Primary: After and With Alma Thomas," published by Yale University Press on September 29, 2026, was featured by Hyperallergic. The chapter titled "Field" explores the impact of painter Alma Thomas through themes of sisterhood, agriculture, and Black diasporic aesthetics. Gumbs cites Richard Powell's 1975 critique of Thomas's exhibition at Howard University, commending her shift from photographic realism. She highlights Thomas's brother, John Maurice Thomas, who safeguarded Alma's legacy, and artist Malcolm Peacock, who intertwined a redwood tree at the Studio Museum. The chapter links Thomas's artistry to Indigenous farming traditions and incorporates ideas from Ashon Crawley and Sofia Samatar, concluding with a poem named "SISTER TECH." The book is accessible online and via independent bookstores.